Though he was most widely known for his groundbreaking novels and irreverent poetry, as Roberto Bolaño became increasingly famous he found himself in great demand as a writer of nonfiction. This book collects most of the newspaper columns and articles Bolaño wrote during the last five years of his life, as well as some transcribed speeches and talks and a few scattered prologues. Cantankerous and opinionated, Bolaño ranges from literary criticism to tender pieces about his family and favorite places; he argues for courage and bravery in the face of failure and vehemently demands "creativity in all levels." This omnibus becomes, as editor Ignacio Echevarría notes in his introduction, "a personal cartography of the writer: the closest thing, among all his writings, to a kind of fragmented 'autobiography'."

"One can only admire his typically dark humor in the face of terminal illness. In his final interview, published in Playboy on the day he died, he states: 'Sooner or later, the great Lady makes her entrance. The trouble is sometimes she's a cheap whore'."—Sunday Telegraph (London)